>> glor: tonight, fiscal cliff hanger. >> the hour for immediate action is here. it is now. >> glor: president obama speaks to the nation after speaking with congressional leaders. reports from major garrett and nancy cordes. elaine quijano on the family heartbreak after russia's president bans all adoptions to americans. >> we ask president putin, please, can he set an alternate means but don't let me children suffer. >> glor: he met saddam hussein and made it look easy. david martin on the death of general norman schwarzkopf and what the world did not know about him. and "on the road" with steve hartman as a man tries to save his wife of 56 years. an unusual request that gets a surprising response. >> got two of them and i only need one. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> glor: good evening, scott is off tonight. i'm jeff glor. it is the end of a holiday week, but it would appear congress is just getting started. tonight, the president said he is mottestly optimistic about a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, which woul